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Current Herpetology
Abstract
Abstract:
I describe a new frog of the microhylid genus Hylophorbus from the north-coast mountain ranges of Papua New Guinea that is unique in its small size, continuous black lateral band bordered below by a white line and then a field of whitish gray, and other morphometric and color-pattern features that distinguish it from its two most similar congeners, each also possessing a black lateral band. The new species is one of the two smallest species in the genus. It is currently known only from two of the easternmost north-coast mountain ranges, although it seems likely to occur in nearby mountain ranges to the west, a distributional pattern that is common among endemic amphibians from this region.
I thank D. Frost and D. Kizirian (AMNH), R. Sadlier (AMS), M. Hagemann (BPBM), R. Günther and M.-O. Rödel (ZMB), J. Rosado (MCZ), and M. Hoogmoed (RMNH) for loans of specimens; R. Günther for kindly providing me with photographs of Hylophorbus nigrinus and H. picoides; I. Haguna, J. Jiramori, A. Nakung, M. Nakung, M. Okira, C. Wintawa, and D. Yaripona for field assistance; M. Okira and B. Yawi for logistical assistance and permission to work on their land; S. Myers for producing Fig. 2 ; P. Imada for specimen curation; the PNG National Museum and Art Gallery for providing in-country collaborative assistance; and the PNG Department of Environment and Conservation, PNG National Research Institute, and Oro Provincial Government for permission to conduct this work. This research was supported by National Science Foundation grant DEB 0743890.
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